Boat Substitute

After being without a boat for a year and searching for a replacement the captain decided on a change of life style and became Van-Man. He spotted the ideal Motor Home for us. It was roomy enough for two humans and a large Lurcher with attitude but short enough to fit on our drive and that of our daughter in Cornwall. If it wasn’t for us spending so much time in Cornwall we would have bought another boat, but coastal sailing around those shores was not what the Captain desired.

Back to Van-Man. He spotted a second hand van he liked then saw a new one with a large price cut due to minor damage that was about to be repaired. Boat forgotten he spaced out on a palace of the road. Being used to compact living we found there was plenty of storage space. Better still the log fire was replaced by push button heating. A lovely kitchen and compact bathroom completed the interior. The only thing lacking was a permanent bed but any van that had one was too long for our drive and could not be moored at our daughters.

Sally our new Motor Home

I was concerned that we bought it without test driving the beast but my husband was happy to driver it as he had driven large vans in the past.

The first time I drove it I felt I was steering a hovercraft which wafted in the breeze every time something passed me. However I managed a few minutes feeling out of control. Van-Man adapted a stair gate to keep our hound in the back of the van or she would curl up under his feet, awkward when he is driving.

When my daughter was taken into hospital Van-Man booked a site in Cornwall for the next few nights so we could help out with the children (she has five) so her self employed husband could work. Van-Man de-winterized the van and we loaded the van the night before and put the heating on overnight to stop the van freezing

We set out at 10.02 with our sofa/bed piled on one side of the van to stop Lottie sleeping on it making it smelly on the other side we put Lottie’s duvet and bed. She attacked it excitedly as we set off, the way she used to when setting off for the boat. I’m glad she couldn’t get her teeth into our bed. We stopped at a lay-by a few miles from home to replace her bed on the wooden slats. Fortunately this time she lay down and watched the view through the front window.

Van-Man drove round the motorway and then it was my turn to give him a rest. We stopped at a Starbucks on the A303 and had lunch. While I plucked up the courage to drive the monster Van-Man fiddled with the mirror/reversing camera which he had managed to swipe from its holder.

I drove off slowly. My first problem was the brake was on the right hand side and I had to lean over to fully release it. My second problem was the gears which were on a knob high up on the dash board rather than the usual position between the seats.

I crawled out of the services and sauntered slowly along the A303 at 40mph. that felt too fast as the van was buffeted by the wind from vans and lorries overtaking us. I concentrated on keeping in my lane. Thankfully the A303 was duel carriage way so I held no one up. As my confidence grew I speeded up to 45. Van-Man was happy. We were heading the right way and I had driven for more than 20 minutes even though I still felt I was driving a hovercraft.

Stonehenge

At Stonehenge we joined our first queue and it took over 20 minutes to reach the roundabout beyond it. I managed to creep along in first and second gear. Changing up was easy, for some reason I had trouble changing down. With the slow stop and start, I managed to drive for an hour before handing over to Van-Man. He was happy as a pig in mud at the handling of our new beast. He drove through the Blackdown Hills in rain to the Hog and Hedge. After another long stop I took the wheel again and trundled us to Victoria services where Van-Man took over for the final push to Padstow, to the nearest campsite to my daughter’s house that was open in January. The journey had taken eight hours instead of the normal six but then I had been driving slowly. The campsite looked fine Van-Man reversed onto the pitch and checked for the slope. It looked as if he needed to use the ramps but he drove off the pitch then drove on. This time the van was level.

“I thought so,” Van-Man said. “The rear of Sally (that’s what our van is called) is higher than the front.” Only a few vans and a couple of caravans were on site all on hard standing like us. Van-Man filled up with water.

“It’s overflowing,” I pointed out.

“It can’t be,” Van-Man exclaimed. “the gauge is only showing half full.”

The journey to our daughters took 15 minutes. We walked into chaos. The younger ones were noisy and the whole family was hungry but Dad was busy on the phone trying to organize his work for the week. We got stuck into feeding the tribe, heating up a spaghetti bolognaise a kind member of the church had provided. After a hectic bedtime routine with me on bath duty and Van-Man doing story time we retreated to Padstow for an hour’s peace before bed.